William Wilkinson (architect)
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William Wilkinson (1819–1901) was a British Gothic Revival architect who practised in
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...
, England.


Family

Wilkinson's father was a builder in Witney in Oxfordshire. William's elder brother George Wilkinson (1814–1890) was also an architect, as were William's nephews C.C. Rolfe (died 1907) and H.W. Moore (1850–1915).


Career

Most of Wilkinson's buildings are in Oxfordshire. His major works include the Randolph Hotel in Oxford, completed in 1864. He was in partnership with his nephew H.W. Moore from 1881. In his long career Wilkinson had a number of pupils, including H.J. Tollit (1835–1904).


Works


Churches

In 1841, at the age of only 22, Wilkinson designed a new
Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
, Holy Trinity at
Lew, Oxfordshire Lew is a village and civil parish about southwest of Witney in the West Oxfordshire District of Oxfordshire, England. The 2001 Census recorded the parish population as 65. Since 2012 the parish has been part of the Curbridge and Lew joint ...
. His other work on churches included: *St Leonard's parish church, Eynsham: restoration, 1856 *Witney Cemetery: lodge and two chapels, 1857 *Witney
Workhouse In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...
: chapel, 1860 *All Saints' parish church, Middleton Cheney,
Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...
: Horton family mausoleum, 1866–67 *St Andrew's parish church,
Headington Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston, Oxford, Marston to the north-west, Cowley, Oxfordshire, Cowley to the south, and Bar ...
, Oxford: added north aisle, 1880


Police buildings

Wilkinson moved to Oxford in 1856 and succeeded J.C. Buckler as architect to the local police committee. Oxfordshire County Constabulary was formed in 1857, and Wilkinson designed several buildings for the new force. * Watlington police station, 1858–59 * Witney police station, 1860 *
Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...
police station, 1863 *
Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population ...
police station, 1864–65 * Burford police station, 1869 *Magistrates' room at Deddington Court House, 1874


Houses

Wilkinson designed Home Farm on the Shirburn Castle estate, built in 1856–57. From 1860 he laid out the Norham Manor estate in north Oxford. The estate was slowly developed with large villas, a number of which Wilkinson designed himself. Wilkinson also designed town houses and small
country houses An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
elsewhere in Oxfordshire: *Hollybank, Wootton, 1862–63 *10,
Broad Street, Oxford Broad Street is a wide street in central Oxford, England, just north of the former city wall. The street is known for its bookshops, including the original Blackwell's bookshop at number 50, located here due to the University of Oxford. Among ...
, 1863 * Whittlebury, Northamptonshire: farmhouse, 1864 *The Holt, Middleton Cheney, Northamptonshire, 1864 *60 Banbury Road, Oxford, 1865–66 *Bignell House, Chesterton, 1866 (partly demolished) *23 and 24 Cornhill,
Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...
, 1866 * Astrop Park, Northamptonshire: lodge, pheasantry and cottage, 1868 * Witney Almshouses: restoration, 1868. *Brashfield House,
Caversfield Caversfield is a village and civil parish about north of the centre of Bicester. In 1844 Caversfield became part of Oxfordshire, but until then it was always an exclave of Buckinghamshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as ...
, 1871–73 *Shelswell Park, Shelswell, 1875 *Cowley Place (now St Hilda's College, Oxford): extension, 1877–78


Clergy houses

A number of the houses that Wilkinson designed were for clergy. Most were for the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...
, but he also designed a presbytery that was built for the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
. * Ramsden parsonage, 1862 * Chadlington parsonage, 1863 (now Chadlington House) * Duns Tew rectory, 1864 (now Priory Court) * Godington parsonage, 1867 (now the Old Vicarage) * Upper Heyford parsonage, 1869 * Rousham rectory: enlargement and remodelling, 1873. *St Aloysius' presbytery, Woodstock Road, Oxford, 1877–78 * Combe vicarage and Institute (with H.W. Moore), 1892–93


Educational establishments

Wilkinson designed the library for the
Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...
, built in 1863. He designed a number of schools, of which the largest was
St Edward's School, Oxford St Edward's School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent Day school, day and boarding school) in Oxford, England. It is known informally as 'Teddies'. Approximately sixty p ...
, whose buildings he completed in phases from 1873 until 1886. His other schools include: * Hailey School, 1848 * Minster Lovell School, 1870–72 *Burford Elementary School, 1875–77 * Thame Grammar School, 1877–79 *Salesian College, Crescent Road, Cowley, 1880


Industrial buildings

Late in his career Wilkinson undertook one industrial commission: a new smith shop and foundry for William Lucy's Eagle Ironworks in Jericho, Oxford. This single-storey building was completed in 1879. It was demolished after Lucy ceased production in England in 2005.


Publications

*


See also

* List of Oxford architects


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, William 1819 births 1901 deaths 19th-century English architects Architects from Oxfordshire English ecclesiastical architects Gothic Revival architects